Battle of Stanley's Farm

The Battle of Stanley's Farm (1 November 1776) was a battle of the American Revolutionary War fought between the United States and Great Britain, including some German mercenaries from Hesse-Kassel. A larger British-Hessian force assaulted American forces in Harlem near Marcus Garvey Park on Malcolm X Boulevard and West 120th Street, but they were repelled with heavy losses by the Americans in a stalling action.

Prelude
General George Washington's 8,000-strong Continental Army army retreated to Harlem in upper Manhattan following the defeat at the Battle of Long Island and the Battle of White Plains, and General William Howe's army of 20,000 British and Hessian troops encamped at Brooklyn. The two armies were engaged in stalemate between the 28 October 1776 battle of White Plains and the 16 November Battle of Fort Washington, and there were several skirmishes between the two armies. General Nathanael Greene, who was a member of Washington's staff, decided to dispatch 1,000 of his troops to hold off the British and Hessian army as the Continentals made their retreat to Fort Washington in what is now Morningside Heights and Fort Lee in what is now Jersey City. This army consisted half of Continental Army regulars and the other half was made up of minutemen assembled from New York City to fight against the British invasion. General Howe had made plans for an assault on Washington's army with 1,578 troops under Colonel Anthony Baxter and the Hessian commander Jacob Helbig, and the two armies met to the southwest of Marcus Garvey Park in Harlem.

Battle
The Americans lined up their militia in battle formation with their horse artillery on their right flank, while the British had a similar organization. The British and Hessian army moved forwards to attack the Americans, and the American forces fired on them with their muskets, preparing to hold off a fierce attack.